Sno-Bliz – January 13

Dr. Ernest Hansen, Jr and his niece Ashley were the guest speakers at Rotary last week who provided a brief history of Dr. Hansen Jr’s parents business, Hansen’s Sno-Bliz located on Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans.

The store was started in 1939 by Mary and Ernest Hansen. Ernest, being a master machinist, designed and built the ice shaving machine which is still in use in the store today. Mary was responsible for mixing their very own syrups which provided flavor to the fluffy ice with the motto, “there are no shortcuts to quality.” They build their Sno-Bliz with multiple layers of ice and syrup, making sure the flavor is saturated in every taste of the cool treat.

The store is now operated by their granddaughter Ashley, who strives to maintain the quality and practices of the store as established by her grandparents many years ago. The store is open from the spring through the fall and offers many flavors of Sno-Bliz, including some mixed with ice cream and real fruit.

Hanzen’s Sno-Bliz has become such a part of uptown New Orleans life that it is not uncommon to find a long line of patrons waiting to get a Sno-Bliz during the summer months. The popularity of the cool treat has earned the Sno-Bliz an award as an American Classic by the James Beard Foundation.